


The Witch's Tree

by LyraWriting



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Curse Breaking, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, No Beta, dramione - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:48:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29119242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyraWriting/pseuds/LyraWriting
Summary: A cursed cherry wood chest, exquisitely carved runes, and an innocent crush on her partner... what could possibly go wrong for Hermione?
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	The Witch's Tree

Hermione Granger was mortified. If this had been the first occurrence of the predicament she currently found herself in, she would have been simply embarrassed. Hell, if it was the second time she might have been able to laugh it off. But for the third time in as many years she found herself crushed beneath a pile of at least fifty tomes.

She had been meandering through the shelves of the Hogwarts library, hoping to find the answers to breaking a particularly tough curse. As she began to stack the books upon a nearby table, she realized that she had forgotten her extendable bag back at her London flat. No matter, she reasoned with herself, a simple levitation charm would do when the time came. As she made her final selection, she could feel a shift in her magic. To her dismay, Draco Malfoy had entered the library.

Despite his initial involvement in the case they were tasked with, she had successfully avoided him for the past two weeks. They were working closely together on deciphering the hand-carved runes on a cherrywood chest when Malfoy’s hand brushed against hers and lingered just a fraction too long. It could have only been a millisecond, but as soon as his skin touched hers she felt a warm tingling that traveled from her hand, through her body, and directly to her magical core. Her eyes instantly shot to his face, but she detected nothing to suggest that he had been affected in the same way. They continued as though nothing occurred, but Hermione was left in a dazed sense of longing. Confused and concerned, she began to work alone, dodging his attempts at help, and making as many trips outside of the office as she could find excuses for. It was a brilliant success up until this point.

She bit her lip and cursed her luck, silently casting a levitation charm on the massive stack of books. She crept quietly up to the desk, hoping against all hope that Malfoy was either there for his own devices, or that perhaps he was still combing the shelves in search of her. With a shake of her head and an arch of her brow, Madam Prince made note of every volume Hermione had chosen. Once more Hermione was thankful for the relationship she maintained with Headmistress McGonagall, and subsequently the permission to check out as many references as she needed. The Hogwarts library had often been the source of many breakthroughs in her time as a Curse Breaker. She gave a tight smile and mouthed “thanks” as she began to back away from the desk and towards the doors.

“Ah, Granger, there you are!”

With those simple words uttered, her concentration shattered and her levitation charm disintegrated. She fell to the floor as the books collapsed around and on top of her. Madam Prince leant nothing but an exasperated sigh and a dramatic, “SHHHH!”

Hermione Granger was mortified. Completely, absolutely, and irreparably mortified.

Malfoy cast a silencing charm to appease the grumbling librarian, and to perhaps ease the embarrassment of the witch sprawled out on the floor.

“A little help? Please?” she groaned under the weight of paper, bindings, and ink.

Malfoy was already levitating and stacking as he chuckled out, “Again? Fuck, Granger. Just because the library lets you check out fifty books at once doesn’t mean you should.”

“I regret nothing,” she winced as he moved a particularly large text on the various implications of arboreal selection in spell work.

Malfoy let out a hearty laugh, his eyes watering with mirth, “I’m sure you don’t, Granger.”  
He extended his hand in an attempt to help her stand. Her eyes widened at the gesture and she scrambled to her feet alone. She noticed Malfoy’s face fall, but she couldn’t take the risk of touching him again, especially in public. The twinge of guilt pierced her stomach as she began to brush off her robes. 

“Well, thank you for your assistance. Did you have a particular reason for visiting Hogwarts this afternoon? I shouldn’t want to keep you.” Hermione attempted pathetically to save face while also maintaining as sterile of an attitude as possible. 

“Granger, you damn well know exactly why I am here. You have been avoiding me at every turn since we attempted to decipher that chest. Like it or not, I have been assigned to this case just as much as you.” Malfoy’s voice began to slowly rise to a near shout as he continued to stack books and shrink them. “In fact, my professional success depends on us working together far more than it threatens to diminish your own successes. I realise that I am indebted to you for agreeing to work with me, but you have to actually allow me to work.”

Hermione herself shrank beneath his tone and his gaze, her own eyes darting back and forth from Malfoy’s tirade to Madam Prince’s conspicuous curiosity as to what they were actually speaking about within their silent bubble. She knew his fears to be true. Despite his shining example of cooperation and even his last minute spying for The Order, Draco Malfoy continued to pay every day for his former Death Eater status. 

“You are right,” she said quickly before he could continue, “I should not have been avoiding you.”

Malfoy pushed his glasses further up on his nose and said, “Excuse me? Did you just say I was right? Slithering Salazar I never thought I would see the day!” 

Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes as she began collecting the shrunken books from the floor. Why had she not thought of such a simple solution? She could have saved herself from the disastrous crash and Malfoy’s involvement altogether. Her mind had just not been itself lately.

“Now,” he said, stuffing the books in various pockets of his robes, “let us floo back to your flat and discuss exactly why you have been avoiding me. I will even shorten the length of your grovelling if you make me a cuppa the muggle way that I have grown to enjoy.” Hermione sighed in acquiescence, still unsure of how to explain her current predicament without giving herself away. 

Her growing affection for Malfoy had begun about three years prior, back when he first joined the curse breaking department. If she was honest, her curiosity was piqued far before that, when he had refused to properly identify all three of them those many years ago. More so when he showed up at a meeting of The Order and it was revealed that he had been spying for them ever since she had been tortured on his drawing room floor. From that moment forward, she couldn’t help but be somewhat drawn to the contradictions that seemed to exist within Draco Malfoy. 

How on earth was she supposed to explain to him that ever since their hands had traced the runes on that cherrywood chest, her innocent crush had erupted into full force infatuation? Clearly the runes had something to do with her current predicament, but he seemed to have had no side effects whatsoever from the incident. Hermione silently prepared herself for what was sure to be an even more embarrassing expedition as she followed him out of the Library.


End file.
